Louis-Alexandre Berthier

Louis-Alexandre Berthier (20 February 1753-1 June 1815) was one of Napoleon's 26 Marshals.

Biography
In 1770 he joined the army under his father's engineering corps and fought in the American Revolutionary War in 1780 with the Comte de Rochambeau. On his return he was a Colonel and fought for Francois Christophe Kellermann during the French Revolutionary Wars in 1792. By 1796 he was a Brigadier General and fought in the Battle of Rivoli during the Italian Campaign a year later, serving as Napoleon Bonaparte's chief-of-staff. In 1798 he captured Rome and Pope Pius VI died in French captivity, and later served in the Egypt Campaign, and became Minister of War after Napoleon's 18 Brumiare Coup of 1799.

Berthier was involved in the later battles of Austerlitz, Jena, and Friedland during the Napoleonic Wars and although the French army in Bavaria suffered a number of reverses under his command in 1809, he proved an adept administrator. After the fall of Napoleon in 1814 he surrendered to Louis XVIII of France but gained suspicion after he refused to take part in Napoleon's new project of restoration.

Berthier died on 1 June 1815, falling out of a window. He was either assassinated by a secret society or committed suicide because of the sight of Prussian troops invading France.